Tv Blinks At Equal Female Sports Coverage

November 08, 1992|By Karen Weiller.

National networks and cable stations broadcast thousands of hours of sports coverage each year to millions of viewers. Television powerfully shapes and reflects the attitudes of our society. Just what does the public see of the female athlete?

Studies I conducted with Catriona Higgs, Ph.D, associate professor of physical education at Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pa., found an increase over time in the number of hours of women`s sports shown on a major network, in this case, NBC. In the 1972-1973 programming year, NBC broadcast 366 hours of live sports coverage. Just one hour-coverage of the Wimbledon final-was dedicated to a women`s event.

By the 1988-1989 NBC season, an increase was evident, in that of the 442 total hours of sports programming, 21.5 were of women`s sports. The 1990s, a new decade, have not seen marked improvement.

During the 1990-1991 NBC season, of the 569 total hours of sports broadcast, 379.5 hours were of male athletes, 28.5 of women.

In addition to limited viewing, when women are shown, they more often are seen competing in individual events (such as gymnastics, figure skating, tennis and golf) and in aesthetically pleasing ones. During Olympic years, add track and field to that list. We have come to witness female athletes caught up in the ``emotion of the moment``-pain, joy, victory, defeat.

Who could forget the agonizing pain of a sobbing Mary Decker Slaney in the 1988 Olympic Games, or perhaps Flo-Jo crossing the tape in full makeup and flowing tresses? Showing someone crying in pain denotes weakness and the coverage more often shows women athletes in that position. And when women athletes do wear makeup, it is often highlighted.

Added to these moments is continued reporting of sports which conform to a stereotypical feminine image. These unflattering images of woman as weak and emotional-coupled with lesser quality of production-involving the number of camera angles, slow-motion replays and editing-have led to an overall belittling of women athletes.

These images have continued as recently as the 1992 Olympic Games-with ongoing use by male and female network announcers of the terms, ``sweet,``

``darling,`` ``graceful,`` ``cute`` and ``girl`` in describing female figure skaters or the perpetual camera shots of the makeup, fashion and nails of track and field star Sandra Patrick-Farmer. That she chose to wear makeup is not the issue. That it repeatedly was the focus of the coverage IS the issue.

So what`s the big deal? Do these subtle or not so subtle points matter?

Unfortunately, referring to female athletes in an inferior capacity continues to undermine their credibility as viable, strong and powerful athletes and keeps them in a position inferior to that of the male athlete, most often depicted in terms of his power.

Although we may complain about the coverage of women athletes, the question remains: Is there a market for televised coverage of women`s sports? In 1983, the ``Miller Lite Report on American Attitudes Toward Sports``

established that 70 percent of the nearly 1,200 men and women interviewed were interested equally in men and women`s sports. Also, 53 percent found men and women`s sports competitions equally exciting. Those who claimed no interest in watching women`s events found them dull and uninteresting, preferring instead to watch what they perceived as the faster, more aggressive and exciting men`s events.

The study concluded that although a general desire to view more women`s sports on television existed, when given a choice, more people wanted to see the ``best,`` which they perceived as men`s sports.

It must be noted that subtle changes have occurred in the reporting of women`s sporting events. A comparison of the 1976 and 1988 Olympic Games showed that although commentators in 1988 still talked of the grace and beauty of the female athlete, they also used words such as superior, aggressive, strong and fast.

Perhaps commentators are beginning to appreciate the athleticism of the female athletes rather than the femininity of the athletic female.

But no quick fix for this predicament of televised coverage of women`s sports exists. Women remain under-represented and trivialized in sports because of deeply rooted and powerful attitudes.